John Martyn

Martyn was once called the drinking man's Nick Drake. That makes sense, considering the guy used to wear overalls. More important, 1971's Bless the Weather is jazzy soft pop for folks who think jazzy soft pop can never be anything but elevator music. The Doobies dream of grooving like Martyn, whose laid-back meditations -- full of echo and negative space -- lay down a heavy mood with subtlety and virtually zero volume. There's even a little Talk Talk in the free-form "Glistening Glyndebourne."

Scottish singer-composer John Martyn is one of a handful of soft rock artists around with a
major lyric gift. He has had a couple of albums released in England which I haven't heard
and has made two very interesting albums for Warner Brothers with his wife
Beverley–Strombringer and Road To Ruin. As far as I know this is Martyn's first American
solo album and an impressive debut it is. Among the flood of primarily reflective... More >